The Forsaken Arts

Chapter 18: Surrounded

In the middle of a field, Chri and another warrior were engaged in a neck to neck battle. Both showed no sign of giving up even though it was clear that the battle had taken its toll on them.

The warrior spun Chri around with a swift slash from his broadsword; without missing a beat, Chri countered with a tornado kick to the side of the head, then followed up with a spinning uppercut that resulted in them both falling to the ground.

As they picked themselves back up, Chri placed one hand over his chest and emanated a white light. As the light faded, he removed his hand to reveal that the wound he had just received was now healed.

"To be honest, I'm not surprised at how resilient you are. After all, you and Krinx shared the same quarters while in the military did you not?" the unknown warrior said with a grin.

Alarmed, Chri responded, "Huh, Krinx... how do you know that name, just who the hell are you anyway!?"

Both fighters held their distance, the unknown warrior relaxed his stance as he calmly paced back and forth, taking a moment to study his opponent. He was short and had black hair that was greasily slicked back, which oddly complimented his beady eyes.

"Of course, how rude of me, I'm Soren." he said as his pacing came to a stop.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Chri stared with uncertainty. Impossible, Soren died years ago.What the hell is going on here?

"Well the real Soren was a vicious and cruel individual who died deservingly years ago at the hands of Krinx. So I don't know who the hell you think you're trying to fool, in any case I will defeat you!"

Displeased by his confidence, Soren smugly replied, "Understand this, you have no chance of victory, our mission is to eliminate anyone that could oppose his power. Hmm... you should be flattered, for you just so happen to fall into that category."

"Oppose his power... our mission?" he uttered in confusion.

Suddenly an attack dealt from behind forced Chri to stumble forward. As he turned he heard a scraggly voice confidently proclaim. "The power of Krinx shall not be opposed, your life ends here!"

Now able to see the cowardly attacker, Chri stepped back, putting distance between them and took a defensive stance. Where in the hell are these guys coming from... could Krinx really be behind this?

"Scorn, what took you so long?"

The medium built man with rat like features simply shrugged in response while unsheathing his daggers, the dimly lit reflection of his grimy yellow teeth and bald patches only enhanced his already unpleasant appearance.

The two teamed up to focus on quickly eliminating their opponent. Nevertheless, proving that he truly was one of the Heroes of Legend, Chri controlled the flow of combat and was able to keep both generals at bay.

Inevitably the battle was taking its toll as Chri began suffering from the effects of using an excessive amount of chi and stamina to continually mend the gashes and cuts he received from his armed attackers.

His body now ached from within as he struggled to continue fighting. Managing his own body, even standing on his feet became a chore in itself.

Overwhelmed with fatigued and with no reserve left, Chri began to take consecutive blows one after another.

Soren flipped his weapon around and slammed the hilt of his broadsword into Chri's forehead while his partner Scorn simultaneously sliced low from rear, cutting his calf.

In one swift motion Chri crashed into the ground, landing on his back. Breathing heavily while grunting in pain, he rolled over and brought himself to a kneeling position.

With blurred vision he looked at his wounds and was reminded of how dim the situation had become. Parts of his clothing were disturbingly soaked in blood from the deep gashes he no longer had the stamina to heal.

Chri looked up as he heard the combined sadistic laughter of Scorn and Soren and saw that they were circling him like vultures.

"Like I said, our mission is to eliminate anyone that could oppose his power." Soren boasted.

"Well then, guess that means my life is in danger also!" Thengol shouted as he fell from the sky towards Soren's direction, making his entrance and giving Chri the much needed break.

They all looked up to see who it was that made the comment. Now locked onto the newcomer, Scorn jumped without hesitation to engage Thengol mid-air.

With his great katana in hand, Thengol clashed with him and sparks flew rapidly as the sound of metal against metal echoed throughout the terrain from their lightning fast attacks.

Their movements became hard to follow as they continued to exchange fierce yet swift blows while continuing to free fall.

Scorn, slightly more agile than Thengol found an opening and managed knocked his great katana away, sending it plunging into a nearby tree.

Though unarmed, Thengol never hesitated as he continued to scuffle with Scorn while evading his daggers. While they continued to descend, Thengol managed to land a devastating axe kick that forced Scorn to crash into the earth below.

Chri did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation as he began storing chi and recovering stamina so he could heal himself. Certain that he wouldn't have enough time to fully recover, he knew to appreciate and respect the allotted time that the stranger granted him.

This was a moment's rests he so desperately needed. I don't know who you are, but I'm glad you showed up when you did. He thought while watching the events unfold.

Still keeping an eye on Soren while he continued to fall, Thengol unsheathed his two short swords as Soren heaved and swung upward.

Crossing his blades together, Thengol deflected the powerful blow which sent him recoiling back into the air.

Soren then jumped to follow-up his previous attack and once again performed a mighty two-handed swing.

As Thengol blocked the attack, the sheer power from the impact forced him to land hard, sliding backwards on both feet.

Soren drifted back and landed momentarily on the hilt of Thengol's great katana that was stuck in the tree - then flipped off and landed while returning his broadsword into its casing on his back.

Still sliding backwards, Thengol performed two swift backflips to regain control and landed next to Chri.

"Hey Chri, nice day we're having huh?" Thengol said with a grin.